Neivayka woke up slowly, feeling as if she had been d**g behind a car for a mile. Her hand felt as if it was swollen three times its size, and her head was pounding. For a disorienting moment, she couldn't remember what had happened. She forced her eyes open expecting to see the scantily furnished confines of her rooms. Instead, the light of a roaring fire almost blinded her dry, aching eyes. She jumped away from the flames fighting to focus her sight once again, yet a hard jerk on her wrists stopped her mindless flight. A rough rope was wound tightly around both of her wrists, with one end tethering her to a tree just a few feet away. At the sight of the twisted fibers, everything came back to her in a flash. She began yanking on the binding even harder, hoping to find some weakness that
